


Only Yours

by kradam_12321 (kay_elizabeth_roxx)



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF, Kris Allen (Musician)
Genre: Dubious Consent, M/M, Mild Language, Prostitution, Rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-02
Updated: 2009-10-21
Packaged: 2017-10-10 12:45:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/99929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kay_elizabeth_roxx/pseuds/kradam_12321
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris Allen is a paid escort to a wealthy club-owner-- but what will he do when he runs into a beautiful, newly-homeless man from his past, and falling in love becomes a very real possibility?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Kris opened the door of the sleek black Mercedes and turned back to look at the tall, brown-haired man in the driver's seat, smiling like he'd taught himself to. Derrik returned the smile in his usual condescending way, and tugged Kris forward into a long kiss, clutching at his already-sore ass like he was reminding Kris just who owned it. Kris fought off the pissy look threatening to come over his face, and instead just mumbled a goodbye before stepping out of the car.

"Goodnight, Kris. I'll be calling you," Kris heard Derrik reply, and then the car was gone. Kris sighed and made towards the entrance to his tiny little apartment, going through the motions of telling himself that no matter how much of an arrogant prick Derrik was, it was a job, and it paid well, as the $400 tucked into Kris' pocket reminded him. He rubbed at the bruises encircling his wrists as he trotted down the sidewalk, wincing at the tenderness.

Kris hadn't always done this for a living.  
  
He'd moved to L.A. from Conway, Arkansas, at an optimistic twenty-three, to try and make his way in the music business. Music had always been his passion, from the moment he picked up his first guitar. But the business was vicious, and within in a year Kris was scrabbling for money to pay his rent, wondering what the fuck he was going to do when the last of his minimal savings, and the pay from his last tiny gig, dried up.

His twisted epiphany came in the dingy bathroom of a club, the pounding techno beat from the dance floor seeping through the door and echoing off the grimy tiles.

He had wandered into the club late that night, not even having the money to drink, just looking for somewhere to escape for awhiIe. Somehow he'd ended up at the bar with a group of glittery guys with make-up covered faces and wandering hands, having drink after drink bought for him. He was completely trashed by the time one of the guys, tall and lithe and giggling, pulled him into the bathroom. The ground had tilted sickeningly under him as the guys warm, groping hands maneuvered him into a stall, and time blurred around the edges until Kris was cumming hard down the other guy's throat. The guy had smiled sultrily up at him, standing and sloppily kissing Kris before disappearing out the door, leaving him spent and shaky. Kris had looked down, dilated pupils taking in the two hundred-dollar bills clenched in his fist-- and that's when the realization had come.  
  
As soon as he began offering himself he was sought out for his sexy Southern charm and his innocent, boyish looks. He was exactly what many men playing that market was looking for-- pretty, submissive, a cute little morsel they could tie up and handcuff and use to play out there fantasies. At first it had just been one-night deals, nothing exclusive or repetitive. 

Then he'd met Derrik.

He was a well-known in L.A, the wealthy owner of a string of clubs in the city. His reputation was shady, but his money talked for him. He was known for getting what he desired.

Derrik had heard talk of him and his reputation, and had found him one night, a few months ago, in a club Kris frequented. He'd offered Kris $250 an hour and promises of luxurious hotels, and, struggling as he was, Kris hadn't been able to refuse.

And so, from then on, he worked for Derrik, and only Derrik. Even though he might not be able to have any serious relationship, and even though his guitar was sitting, untouched, in his dusty closet, Kris was okay. His rent was paid on-time every month, he had food in the fridge, and Kris was just fine.

Kris snapped out of his reverie as he approached his doorstep, starting when what he had thought to be just some random piece of discarded piece of cloth by his front step shifted. Kris looked closer, and indeed it was a person, curled under a fraying, dirty brown blanket, face turned away towards the wall. He-- Kris was pretty sure it was a he-- was obviously asleep, the blanket rising and falling with his even breathing.  


Now, Kris had obviously seen homeless people around the city, but he had certainly never found one practically draped over his doorstep. Kris approached the man and poked at him with a hesitant foot, clearing his throat as the figure shifted underneath the blanket.

"Um," Kris started, voice awkward, "Hey, um, you're kind of on my doorstep."

The figure shifted again, and a head appeared from under the blanket, appraising Kris with sleep-clouded, ice-blue eyes. Kris' eyes widened a bit as he realized how utterly _gorgeous _the man was, despite the grime-- his thick, ragged black hair fell about high cheekbones, and his full, pillowy lips parted as he gazed up at him. His face was pale and a bit drawn, and Kris gazed down at him, feeling something stir in the back of his mind, a fleeting sense of familiarity.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man replied, ridiculously long eyelashes casting shadows on his cheeks as he blinked, a shudder going through his body from the chill of the February night air. "I'll go."

His voice was attractive and melodic, despite the rough edge to it, and Kris, all at once, remembered.

~

_Kris leaned back against the bar of Club 740, looking towards the stage. He'd come on the suggestion of a sign taped to the window of a nearby shop, and, since Derrik hadn't requested his company tonight, he'd come out to see the show.

Ten minutes and one cocktail later, the lights dimmed in the club as the stage spotlights shined down upon the emerging figures. Kris' eyes automatically focused on the tallest man on the stage, holding a microphone and situating himself between the other two. Kris' gaze swept up the tall, lithe figure, his eyes darkening a bit as he took him in. His long legs were clad in fierce knee-length boots, below black, skin-tight pants that clung to his muscular thighs. The neckline of his shirt plunged down to show his toned chest, adorned with a silver chain, and Kris' gaze finally landed on his face.

His eyes were ringed in smoky black liner, the irises a stunning, sultry gray-blue above a straight, proud nose and sexy, full lips. His face was framed by thick, inky-black hair cut asymmetrically, and he smiled seductively out at the crowd before he began to sing.

Kris felt his mouth drop open as the man strutted to the front of the stage, his voice clear and ringing over the audience, soaring to hit notes Kris had never even imagined for a male, aside of Mercury or Plant. The backup dancers looked silly and inexperienced next to this captivating beauty, and every eye in the room was riveted upon him as his hips swayed and swung as he worked the stage, the fluid lines of his body undulating under the bright stage lights. Kris stared, drink forgotten in his hand, eyes feasting upon the hard lines of his body.

But, all too soon, his last, ringing high note faded into thunderous applause, and he trotted off the stage, followed by the other dancers. Kris gradually fell back to earth as the applause faded away, and he belatedly felt the erection straining uncomfortably against his jeans. After a moment's debate, he quickly headed off towards the bathroom, head still filled with images of the gorgeous man moving seductively upon the stage.

He pushed open a door and entered a small, poorly-lit back hallway, to find himself but a few steps away from that very man. 

"Excuse me," the dark-haired man said, a knowing half-smile on his lips, but he made no move to leave.

"Oh, sorry," Kris hurriedly replied, mouth dry. "Hey, um, you were... you were really awesome out there."

"Thanks," the other man replied, smiling to show perfect, white teeth. "I saw you in the audience." Kris blushed at that, thinking of how he had been staring, open-mouthed, like a complete idiot. With a boner. Which he still fucking had.

"Oh," Kris said, cheeks still stained red. "Um, do you sing here a lot?"  And wow, that sounded like the worst pick-up line ever.

"Nope, it's my first gig here," the man smiled, proffering a hand. His nails were painted a shiny black. "Adam."

"Kris," Kris stammered, as Adam's large, warm hand engulfed his. And, instead of letting go, Adam used the grip to pull Kris a bit closer, eyes scanning his face as a smile played around his lips. "Oh, you are just **adorable**," Adam said, and before Kris could even open his mouth to formulate some kind of reply, Adam's hands were in his hair and he was leaning down to slide his lips slow across Kris'.

Kris felt a moan spill from his mouth, and he leaned up into the kiss, hands settling on the large expanse of chest bared by the other man's top, fingers playing in the soft hair there as Adam's tongue rasped over his bottom lip.

All traces of teasing seeped away from Adam's lips as the kiss deepened, and Adam angled Kris' head back, tongues meeting and twining. The other man tasted fruity and smoky-sweet, and Kris had kissed many men-- but not like this. Never like this.

Adam trailed soft, wet kisses down Kris' throat, and Kris gasped, panting for breath. Adam slipped a hand up under Kris' shirt, rubbing and stroking the skin, just as a impatient voice from somewhere close by permeated the air. 

"Lambert! Where are you?"

Adam unwillingly raised his head from Kris' neck, eyes flicking towards the voice before gazing down at him, fingers brushing along his jawline.

"I have to go," Adam said, cradling Kris' face in his hands and pulling a slow, sweet kiss from his lips. Then, a moment later, he rushed out of the door and was gone.

~

_   


 Kris stared dumbly down at the other man, wondering how the hell he hadn't recognized him immediately. His voice had an edge of rasping coarseness that hadn't been there before, his face was makeup-less, his hair grown longer than before-- but it was him, the man Kris sometimes found himself imagining between his thighs, when, in fact, it was Derrik.

Kris had gone back to that club multiple times in the weeks following the encounter, assuring himself that, every time his eyes would sweep across that broad, smoke-hazy room, he was definitely _not _looking for him. His Adam. But Kris had stomped down his stupid hopes after several repeats of returning home dejected, eyebrows knitting together in anger at himself. He was not _his _anything. He was a escort, a _rent-boy._ It was arrogant to think that he had left any impression at all on that beautiful man.

The irony of finding that very same beautiful man on his doorstep was not lost to Kris.

Kris snapped back to the present as the dark-haired man quirked an eyebrow, Kris blushing as he realized that he'd been standing there silent for quite a while.

"No, um... Adam?" Kris asked, immediately feeling stupid when the man just stared at him. Obviously he had the wrong guy,  and even if he didn't, it's not like Adam would remember him, wow, he was an idiot--

"Oh. _Oh... _Kris," Adam said, eyes widening in surprise before lowering to the concrete, shame almost a palpable aura radiating off of him.

"I, um, I should--" Adam started, then turned his head, coughing roughly into the crook of his elbow, broad shoulders  shaking with them. "Go," he finished a few moments later, quickly standing and grabbing the worn duffel bag the blanket had been concealing. His cheeks were flushed in embarrassment, and he wasn't anything like that confident, cocky man that had performed onstage that day. He looked vulnerable and nervous, and still so incredibly gorgeous.

"No!" Kris protested, catching his arm as he tried to leave. "Come... come in. Please." Adam stared uncertainly down at him, eyes glancing back towards the door. He sighed wearily, but, thankfully, nodded, saying "Okay."

Soon Kris was leading Adam into his bland little apartment, forcing himself not to launch directly into the thousands of questions buzzing through his mind. Kris motioned Adam over to the couch and sat next to him, the taller man worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Kris didn't quite know what to say, and they sat in heavy silence for a long few seconds. Adam broke it with another weary sigh, saying "I guess you're wondering why I was sleeping on your doorstep."

Kris nodded and quietly said "Yeah, Adam, you... Why don't you...?"

Adam stared down at his hands for a long moment. "It being _your _doorstep was a coincidence, but I... I got sick. My voice was... was pretty much ruined. I couldn't get gigs anymore, and... I ended up without anywhere to stay. I'm well enough now to get an odd job here and there, but. I do what I can." He smiled, tight and hard. "I get by."

Kris was at a loss for words as Adam finished, and he could only reach out and squeeze his fingers, running his thumb over the chilled skin of his wrist. He knew, somehow, that Adam would not want pity.

"Can I... can I use your shower?" Adam hesitantly questioned, and Kris nodded, pointing him towards the bathroom. "You can use the bathrobe hanging on the door if you want," Kris offered, and Adam thanked him before trotting off, kicking his scuffed boots off by the door.

Soon, Kris heard the water start in the shower, and he let his mind drift. Adam was obviously ashamed to have been found like that, but, despite the unpolished state of him, he still had the exact same affect on Kris that he had had before. He couldn't believe that such a perfect, talented man had been brought to the point of living like that, and Kris, with a pang, remembered what he had agreed to in order to avoid that very same thing. 

~

Adam quickly peeled his clothes off once the door was shut, sighing and shivering as he stepped under the steaming water of the shower, running hot across his chilled skin. He just stood there under the water, eyes closed, for a long minute, before grabbing Kris' shampoo and beginning to wash, his mind drifting away to the lovely little brunette waiting out in the living room.

Kris. Adam had never forgotten the cute, bashful little Southern boy, the way his lips tasted, the way he melted against his body in that hallway-- Adam squeezed his eyes shut under the spray, forcing those thoughts away. He was homeless, for fuck's sake. Kris had kissed the strong, confident, on-top-of-the-world Adam Lambert, and now Kris' charity was just him being a good person.  Adam knew he could never offer anything to such a man as he was-- broken, homeless, too-skinny, fundamentally helpless. 

He'd bailed from the shelter for a few days, clutching the duffel bag that contained all that he had left as he wandered aimlessly around the city. He brutally fought back the tears pricking at his eyes as he remembered his first night, just a few weeks ago, after being evicted, sitting in the alleyway by the shelter with the very same bag that was currently laying on the bathroom tile, crying silently as he fought his relentless, pointless pride. Pride was pretty much a moot point by then.  

Adam rinsed off once the chills running through his body had ceased, quickly toweling off and pulling on Kris' white, silky bathrobe. It was ridiculously short on him, baring a few inches of thigh, and he almost laughed at his reflection before opening the door and emerging back out into the living room.

Kris turned to watch him as he padded out, and Adam half-smiled, mocking himself for imagining that there was heat concealed in Kris' warm brown gaze. The ego never dies, indeed.

"Thank you," Adam said, completely sincere, plopping down next to him on the sofa. He smiled a little mischievously as he continued "Not many people would take a stranger into their home in the middle of the night. Plusyou're cute. This night is just _made _of win."

One corner of Kris' lips turned up into the crooked little half-smile Adam had been aiming for, and he replied "No problem. Glad my... cuteness could be of service."

And that just brought those damn memories back to the surface, his eyes darkening as he looked down at Kris' parted, inviting lips, trying to hold on to all the reasons why he shouldn't just lean in and take them-- even as his hand, of its own accord, snuck over to rest upon his denim-clad knee. Adam watched Kris' adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard, taking in his expression.

"Adam," Kris murmured, and Adam _so _did not expect it when Kris laid a hand on his chest, in the V of the robe's opening. And before Adam could vocalize anything beyond a startled exhale, Kris' other hand was behind his neck, pulling him down into a slow, soft kiss. Kris' lips molded sweetly to his, and Adam brought his arms up to encircle Kris' tiny waist as he caught Adam's full bottom lip between his teeth, tugging on the reddened flesh.

And it felt so beyond good just to have _someone_ in his arms, but this was _Kris_, Kris kissing him slow and passionate, and he wanted this, this little bit that he could have, to last-- so, it felt like a personal 'fuck your wishes, bitch' from the Universe when he felt the familiar burning in his throat, and quickly had to release the other man to cough hoarsely into his fist, deep and wracking exhales that shook his entire torso with them.

Adam opened his eyes once the coughing fit had passed, to find Kris gazing at him, alarmed, and he cleared his throat, grimacing apologetically."You okay?" Kris inquired, stroking his jawline as his forehead creased in concern. Adam watched as his eyebrows knit together, the soft hand on his cheek moving to his forehead.

"God, Adam, you're really feverish,"  Kris said, standing from the couch and trotting into the bathroom, and Adam sighed, internally cursing his bodies fucking _horrible _timing. A moment later Kris returned with a few pills and a glass of water, and he handed them to Adam.

"Ibuprofen," Kris explained, and Adam swallowed them down with a gulp of water. "You should eat," Kris said, sitting next to him, but Adam shook his head. He _was _hungry, but now all he really wanted to do was draw Kris back into his arms, maybe steal a few more kisses, and crash.

"No, I just really wanna sleep," Adam said, suddenly feeling very heavy. 

"Okay," Kris agreed, taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom. "No, take your own bed, I'll sleep on the couch," Adam protested, but Kris just pulled down the covers and insisted "No, you're sleeping here."

Adam complied after a moment, sliding under the blankets. Kris hovered by the side of the bed for a moment, and Adam looked up at him. "...You can stay if you want... but I'm probably contagious, so that's probably not a good idea..."

Kris just smiled and stopped fidgeting, pulling off jeans before sliding on pj pants, leaving his t-shirt on. He crawled up and slid in next to Adam, and Adam automatically moved to spoon up behind him, their bodies nestled flush together. Kris leaned back into him, bending his head around to press a brief, soft kiss to the other man's lips as Adam slipped an arm around his waist.

"Night," Kris murmured, and Adam ignored the voice telling him that he was just setting himself up for disappointment as he nuzzled his face into Kris' neck and let sleep claim his weary body.

~

Sunlight filtering through the blinds woke Kris up in the morning, and he blinked confusedly for a second, until he remembered why there was a warm body wrapped around him. He smiled and yawned, snuggling back against Adam, the other man's slight rasping snores stirring the hair at the back of his neck. Kris sighed and closed his eyes again, remembering the night before.

A twinge of guilt passed through Kris as he remembered Adam's mouth claiming his, hot and wet. Kris had forgotten where he stood. He couldn't get involved with Adam, or anyone else, for that matter-- Derrik, Kris had found, was a very jealous man. He was extremely possessive of his boytoys, taking it upon himself to remind Kris frequently, in the way of bonds and hard, pounding snaps of his hips, just who he believed Kris to belong to. 

But, around Adam, it was so easy to simply get lost in the sensations and the effortless companionship, and forget the fact that they would never be more than wishful thinking. Adam deserved better than a L.A. escort who could never really be 100% his.  
  
Kris' train of thought faded away as he felt Adam begin to shift behind him, and a moment later the mattress dipped as the other man stood from the bed, the warm press of his body against Kris' back disappearing. Adam moved quietly, obviously thinking the smaller man was still asleep. Kris rolled over and blinked up at the other man, in the process of pulling a change of clothes out of his bag.

"...Were you just going to leave?" Kris questioned after a long few moments, sitting up.

Adam bit his lip and looked towards the ground, pulling on pants before shedding the robe and yanking on a shirt. "I..."

"Adam," Kris said, standing from the bed and padding over to the other man and splaying his fingers out over his chest. "...You're sick. You should... you should stay. Till you're better." Kris couldn't even pretend that that was the main reason he thought Adam should stay, not even in his own mind.

Adam worried his full, lush bottom lip between his teeth, his eyelashes a soft fan over his cheekbones as he mumbled "Kris, but, I..."

He never finished that sentence, however, because a moment later his eyes flashed up to meet Kris', and suddenly, Kris was wrapped in Adam's long arms. There was a long moment of pause, before Adam bent down and covered Kris' mouth with his own. Kris felt every reason he had accumulated on why this was a bad idea evaporate as Adam stroked his back with big, warm hands, and dipped his tongue past Kris' lips, licking and sucking and nibbling.

Adam backed them towards the bed as their tongues met and mingled, and the back of Kris' knees hit the mattress, sending him falling rather ungracefully back against the pillows, their embrace bringing Adam's warm weight down on top of him.

Kris' hands explored along the dip of Adam's back before coming to rest on the curve of his ass, Adam's erection a hot, hard weight against Kris' thigh as their hips began to rock together. A moment later, Kris felt Adam's hands under his shirt, trying to tug it off-- and, all at once, reality caught up with him.

"No, Adam," Kris gasped, breaking away from their searing kiss and squirming beneath him. "No--"

Adam froze the instant the words were past his lips, and he quickly moved off of him, standing again from the bed. Kris caught a glimpse of his face as he moved away like he'd been burned, a glimpse of Adam's baby blue eyes-- looking like everything he had suspected had just been confirmed.

"No, Adam," Kris panted, realizing Adam's misinterpretation of his words, but the other man had already grabbed his bag and nearly ran from the room.

By the time Kris caught up with him, his hand was on the front doorknob. "_Adam,"_  Kris insisted, grabbing his forearm, and Adam turned to look at him after a long moment, eyes resigned.

"No, Kris," Adam quietly replied, shaking his hand off. "I get it. I really do. I _get _it. I'm fucking _homeless_, I know. And thank you for the place to stay for the night, but I'm not gonna hang around so you think you have to do _this--_" he gestured vaguely between them-- "to make me happy, or because you feel sorry for me, or _whatever. _Thank you, Kris, but I... I don't want to be anyone's charity case, okay? Because I know someone like you would never want someone like me, and that's just a fact I'm gonna have to learn to live with."

"_That's not true," _Kris insisted, framing Adam's face between his hands, before pausing and pulling him over to sit on the sofa. "That has nothing to do with it," Kris continued, stroking his thumb over the back of Adam's hand. "None of that was _charity, _okay? I didn't stop because I didn't want to."

"Then why, Kris? Why did you act like you wanted me, then just..." Adam inquired, eyes on his lap.

Kris' heart galloped in his chest as the silence stretched on. Kris didn't want to tell him, didn't want to see the look on his face or watch him leave when he did-- but he needed Adam to believe him.

"Because..... Because I can't, Adam, I can't. I-I'm... I'm an escort. And Derrik, if, if he found out about you, h-he'd be really angry. And without the money, I... I'm sorry, Adam, I'm..." Kris stammered out, squeezing his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to see the anger he was sure would come over Adam's face, wouldn't have to watch him yell at him for leading him on or storm out the door.

The room was silent for a few endless seconds, and Kris' eyes snapped open as he heard Adam murmur "Oh, _baby," _and, suddenly, Adam's strong arms were wrapping him into a warm embrace. Kris melted into Adam's arms, pressing his face into Adam's chest as sobs shook his body, all the things he'd shoved to the back of his mind in the past few months spilling out.

Adam murmured comforting noises in Kris' ear and ran his fingers through his hair, slowly rocking him. The sobs didn't last long, and Kris snuffled against Adam's shoulder once he'd quieted.

"It's okay, baby," Adam mumbled against his hair, pressing soft kisses there. "I really do get it now. My baby boy, looking like a puppy waiting to be kicked... baby." Adam pulled back enough to press a tender kiss to his lips and nuzzle under his jaw, but paused a second later and raised his head, his eyes fixed on Kris' neck. He raised a hand and pushed aside the shoulder of Kris' t-shirt, gentle touch ghosting over the red, pronounced bite mark marring the skin there.

Kris looked up to meet Adam's gaze, his eyes still unable to hide the fear that he would find anger in Adam's. But his expression was nothing but tender, and he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the swollen skin before raising Kris' hands, one at a time, and kissing along the bruises encircling his wrists, too. He slowly pulled off Kris shirt, his lips finding the scratches and marks on his chest, his fingers laying so gently on the bruises fanning across his hipbones, where Derrik had dug his fingers in.

Kris reveled in the intimacy of the moment as Adam moved to press short, soft kisses to his lips, hands stroking down his back, fingers following the path of the slightly raised scratch marks running the length of it. Kris' fingers tangled into Adam's hair as he pulled him into a deeper kiss, tongue seeking out the sweet crevices of his mouth as Adam's hands slowly coasted about his body.

"We don't have to do this, Kris," Adam said, pulling back a bit, "I mean, if you don't want to."

"I do," Kris breathed, sucking at Adam's neck as his hand moved down over his body, palm curving around the column of heat between Adam's thighs. "I want you."

Adam groaned breathily into his ear, and picked Kris up, legs clasped around his waist as he brought him into the bedroom. He laid Kris down on the messy bed and straddled his hips, lifting his own shirt off. Kris' fingers settled in the soft blonde hair of the other man's chest, tweaking a peaked nipple. Adam inhaled sharply above him before beginning to kiss his way down Kris' body, laving his nipples, tongue dipping into his navel before licking along the thin thatch of brown hair leading down to the waistband of his pj pants.

Kris whimpered, a wordless plea, and Adam slid Kris' pj pants off over his slender hips, quickly pulling off his own jeans after. Kris had only a moment to lick his lips at the sight of Adam's strong, solid thighs, and the obvious tent in his boxers, before Adam was ducking back down. He pressed a kiss to Kris' flat stomach before drifting lower, spreading his lips out over the thin cotton of Kris' boxer-briefs, mouthing along the length of his cock as Kris squirmed, hips pressing up into the heat as he moaned Adam's name.

"So gorgeous, Kris," Adam breathed, gazing down at Kris spread out under him as his nimble fingers hooked under the other man's waistband, pulling the fabric away and casting it aside. Kris sat up to loop his arms around Adam's neck, bringing their lips together in a slow, wet kiss, Adam's hands slowly stroking down his back and over his ass.

Kris flipped them and laid Adam down onto the bed, straddling his knees and looking down into Adam's hazy, hooded eyes as he slowly pulled off his boxers. Kris' eyes caressed down the length of Adam's body once he was bare, taking in his toned chest and firm stomach; his thick, hard cock jutting proudly from between his muscular thighs. Adam hooked a hand behind Kris' thigh, pulling him closer with one hand as the other encircled Kris' cock, stroking him to a slow rhythm as Kris let his head fall back, choruses of "Yes, yes" tumbling from his lips.

Adam adjusted himself on the pillows and pulled Kris forward, on his knees, until he was straddling Adam's shoulders, his aching cock centimeters from the other man's parted lips.

"Kris," Adam murmured, gazing up at him from under his long lashes as his tongue lapped out, curling around the head of his lover's swollen cock. Kris gasped and reached out, hands clenching around the headboard, knuckles white, as Adam licked at the underside of his cock. Adam's hands came up to knead at his ass, pulling him closer and sinking his cock into the wet heat of his mouth until his nose was nestled into the short, curling dark hair framing the base of his cock. Kris gave a keening cry, back arching as Adam drew on his pulsing flesh. And it had been so long, so long since someone had pleasured him like this, and Kris gazed wonderingly down at Adam, savoring the sight of him taking so much pleasure from simply pleasuring Kris. It was something Kris had never known, previous to moving to L.A., when his only partners had been ones to use his body for their own desires.

Kris unclenched one of his hands from the headboard, his trembling fingers descending to touch where Adam's lips were stretched thin and pink around his throbbing flesh, shuttling in and out of his mouth with the helpless stuttering thrusts of Kris' hips. Kris cried out as his cock bumped the back of Adam's throat, and Adam hummed around him, vibrations running sweet along his sensitized flesh.

"Adam, baby... so good, baby, your mouth is so good on me, I-I'm gonna--" Kris tried to warn as he felt familiar heat beginning to coil in his gut, but Adam just sucked harder, rolling his balls together in his palm. And then Kris fell over the edge of his endurance, pulsing into Adam's mouth as he gasped and moaned and trembled through the sweet, drowning waves of his release.

 Adam lapped at his softening cock once it was over, letting it slide out of his mouth before moving down and drawing Kris' sac into his mouth, Kris shuddering in his dazed, hazy little world of ecstasy as Adam licked over the taut flesh, cleaning away the escaped cum. Adam shifted lower down the bed, and Kris groaned in surprise as Adam swept the broad of his tongue over Kris' hole, exploring the musky taste of him. Kris panted, his fingers tightening again on the headboard again as Adam's tongue probed into him, slick and wet as it dipped into Kris' entrance. Kris felt his cock twitch back to life as Adam tongued the tight ring of muscle, coaxing it open as his big hands spread him.  


"Adam, Adam," Kris moaned, voice gravelly, and he mumbled incoherently as Adam's sinuous, stroking tongue left his body. A moment later he was on his back underneath Adam, the other man claiming his lips with soft, warm kisses, and Kris groaned as he realized he could taste himself on Adam's tongue. Adam pulled back and dragged a finger across Kris' bottom lip, and Kris caught it between his teeth, curling his tongue around the digit and drawing it into his mouth. 

"Kris," Adam breathed, kissing at his chest, "tell me what you want, baby."

Kris released Adam's finger from his mouth and twined his fingers into Adam's hair, wrapping his legs around his waist and murmuring against his lips, "I want you inside me."

Adam moaned against his lips, moving back to kneel and slip a hand between Kris' thighs, his spit-slicked fingers finding Kris' entrance, wet and open from his tongue. Two fingers slid deep easily, and Kris moaned as Adam gently probed into him, pressing soft, lingering kisses to his lips as he readied his body. He didn't need much preparation before his muscles were yielding easily to the fingers, and Adam pulled his fingers away, Kris whimpering at the loss before reaching under the pillow and yanking out a bottle of lubricant and a condom. Kris ripped the condom wrapper off and rolled it down Adam's long cock before settling back onto the bed.

Adam drew Kris' legs over his shoulders and bent down to kiss him again, pressing soft kisses all over his face, cock nudging at the cleft of his ass. Kris sighed out a moan and pulled Adam down to capture his swollen lips again, and, as Adam sunk, ever so slowly, into his body, Kris at last knew the difference between having sex and making love.

They were left panting into each others mouth as Adam slowly began to roll his hips, his cock sliding in and out of Kris' warm, wet entrance.

"So good, just like that... I love how you feel inside me, so deep in me..." Kris moaned, pushing his hips up to Adam and feeling him sink deep into his body, thick and hot.

Kris pressed sloppy, tender kisses to Adam's mouth as he wrapped his legs around his waist, drawing him farther into his body as Adam molded sweetly to him, filling up Kris' empty spaces. Adam thrust into him tender and deep, claiming every inch of Kris' body, as if he could erase the fact that anyone else had ever been there, had ever melted into the body spread underneath Adam without even caring to know just how gorgeous Kris was, in more ways than that of muscle and flesh.

Adam kissed along Kris' jawline and along his cheekbones as he moaned with every thrust back into Kris' hot, slick tightness, Kris' back arching off the bed as the other man angled to hit his sweet spot, the head of his cock rubbing over the soft bump deep inside him and sending delicious currents of pleasure burning up his spine.

"Adam!" Kris cried, feeling the rhythm of Adam's hips begin to falter as he neared completion, and two more hot strokes deep into his body and Kris was gone, wrecked, broken, then made something new-- something completely Adam's.

Adam growled low in his throat, eyes squeezing shut as his orgasm overtook him, shaking and moaning in harmony with Kris as their connection burned into their skin, leaving the sweetest of aches as Adam slowly pulled out. He dropped down next to Kris, gathering his boy up to his chest and pressing kisses to his sweaty brow as he panted.

"Adam..." Kris mumbled, pressing his face into Adam's chest. "Never before... never like that."

"I know, baby boy, I know," Adam murmured, tightening his arms around him.

"Fuck," Kris said, kissing at his neck, "You have to be fucking starving."

"Sleep now, food later," Adam sighed, only mildly coherent as his eyes slid shut, his arms solid weight around Kris' waist. Kris smiled and kissed at the corner of Adam's mouth as the other man quickly dropped off, then pulled back and looked down at him, face peaceful and unworried in sleep.

Kris' eyes hardened in resolve as he watched his beautiful boy, and he glanced over at his cellphone, knowing there was a call to be made in the near future. 

If Adam would have him, he would be his alone.

~  
   
Kris looked over at Adam as he ate the eggs and toast that Kris had managed to successfully make him, taking in the graceful line of his throat, his damp, mussed hair and hazy eyes.

"I can't eat with you staring at me," Adam chided with a smile, and Kris grinned, ducking his head and picking apart his own toast, thinking how ridiculously sappy he already was over a man he'd known for a total of two days. Even as the sight of his phone on the table reminded him.

Kris had woken up wrapped around his sleeping boy, the early-afternoon light streaming through the blinds and striping the messy bed. Ten minutes of lazy kissing had left Kris in a blissful daze, and, after Adam had excused himself to go shower, Kris had glanced over at his phone, and felt his stomach sink. He'd dialed voicemail while telling himself it could be anyone, really, the message wasn't necessarily from _him.  
_  
Of course, the voice that had filtered through the speakers was the all-too familiar cool, deep tone, with that ever-present edge of possession.

"_Good afternoon, Kris. I'd like it very much if you would accompany me to dinner tonight. Call me back."_

Kris had at first just stared at the bedspread with an ache in his heart as he was reminded of why he couldn't keep Adam, but then the resolve of the night before had once again flooded through him, hardening his gaze.

 When Kris snapped out of his musings and looked back up, Adam's eyes were on him, his forehead creased in concern.

"What is it?" Adam asked, spoon paused in mid-air, and Kris just smiled, leaning over the table to capture his lips. That seemed to put Adam back at ease, and he looked almost shyly down at his food before saying "...I was thinking that today I... I could go down to my old friend Matt's bar, and ask about a job waiting tables or something... I mean, I think he'd give me something, you know..."

Kris beamed over at Adam and took his sweetly soft lips, fingers brushing his jaw. "I think that's a great idea," Kris said, and Adam smiled back, nuzzling against his throat. 

Kris was silent for a long moment, before slowly saying "I.. I have to call Derrik today."

Adam froze beside him before pulling back, and Kris caught the forlorn, resigned look on his face, before it was hidden behind a shaky, forced smile.

"Okay," Adam said, voice wavering the smallest bit as he stood. "I'm, I'm just gonna head down to Matt's."

"Adam, no," Kris protested, grabbing Adam's hand as he tried to pass and looking up at him with softly imploring eyes. "Please stay. I know it's not fair of me to ask that of you, and you don't have to, to listen, but... please, just.. stay."

Adam looked down at Kris like he was asking him to saw off his own foot, but a moment later he walked over to the couch across the room, sinking down onto the cushions with a quiet exhale and averting his eyes.

Kris sat in silence for a long moment, before reaching over to grab his phone, quickly scrolling through his contacts and hesitating only a moment before hitting the call button.

The phone rang only twice before Derrik picked up, his voice displeased. "Hello, Kris. You certainly took your time in responding."

He continued before Kris could even open his mouth to reply. "Well, anyway, I've made reservations for our dinner, so I'll pick you up at six. I trust you'll be ready." Derrik didn't mention taking Kris to his condo after dinner-- he never did.

Kris steeled himself once Derrik was finished, swallowing hard and shutting his eyes as he let the words he'd been formulating in his mind leave his lips.

"No, Derrik. I'm... I'm done. I don't want to do this anymore."

The line was silent for a long few seconds, before Derrik's voice came through the speakers again, the charade of warmth around it dropped. "Kristopher, no need to be rash-- if you're unhappy with your payment, I'm sure we could work something out."

"No," Kris insisted, fingers tight around the phone. "It's not about that."

"Then what is it, Kris?" Derrik inquired, voice sharp underneath it's faux-politeness.

"I..." Kris started, drawing the image of Adam's face into his mind, eyes still shut. "I... I met someone. And I want... I want to be with him."

The line was menacingly silent for a moment, and Kris tensed, not sure in the least what to expect. When Derrik replied his voice was clipped and icy, detached. "Fine, Kris. You won't be getting your paychecks from me any longer."

The line clicked as it disconnected, and Kris' eyes opened wide in surprise, staring down at the phone in his hand disbelievingly. Out of all of the things he had expected, Derrik letting him go so completely easily was definitely not one of them. Surprise had but a moment to turn to suspicion before a small noise caught his attention, and he looked up to see Adam standing a few feet away, eyes both a little disbelieving and a little damp.

"Kris," Adam said, pacing across the space separating them and pulling Kris up from the chair and into his arms. He nuzzled at his cheek, and Kris melted into his arms, head finding it's natural place against the dip of his neck. 

"Can't believe you did that for me," Adam mumbled, cradling Kris' face in his hands and pulling tender kiss after tender kiss from his lips as Kris clutched at his biceps.

"Needed to, want you to stay," Kris breathlessly replied between kisses, and Adam's lips dropped to his neck as he backed him towards the bedroom door. "Fuck Matt's, I'll go tomorrow. Need you, need you now."

Clothes fell from their bodies as they made towards the bed in a tangle of limbs and lips, and they tumbled down onto it, hot skin against hot skin as Kris straddled Adam's hips and claimed his lips with hot passionate kisses.

And when, after a minute of hurried scrabbling, Kris sunk slowly down onto Adam's throbbing cock, the sensation was the most joyous thing Kris had ever felt-- because finally, finally, he was free.

~ 

Kris lounged back on the couch, absently plucking strings on the guitar he'd just pulled from the dusty depths of the closet. It lay across his thighs and in his hands with that same familiarity that it always had, Kris had been surprised to find, and a smile played across his face as his fingers stroked over the frets.

"Hey, baby," a deep voice greeted from behind him, and then Adam was draped over the back of the couch, nuzzling at the side of his face and wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind.

"Hey," Kris sighed, turning to press kisses along his jawline. "I didn't hear you come in. Different shifts suck."

Adam smiled and kissed him slowly, before saying "I'm just glad we both got jobs at the same place."

Kris grinned at the memory of the day, a week and a half ago, when Adam had brought Kris to Matt's bar with him to request a job-- And Matt, upon Adam's mention of Kris also looking for work, had declared Kris simply too cute to work anywhere else but at the club with them.

"Mhmmm," Kris replied as Adam moved around the couch and sat by him, looking curiously at the guitar in his lover's lap. Kris had mentioned to him that he played, but he hadn't shown him before now. "You finally brought that thing out?"

"Yup," Kris replied, "When I was with Derrik I kind of... just let myself drop it. But I think I'd like to start again, maybe write some stuff."

"Great, babe," Adam beamed, rubbing at Kris' thigh and adding "Plus, you look totally sexy playing that guitar, just so you know."

Kris giggled and set the instrument aside, pressing his smile into Adam's chest and letting his mind play back through the last week. He'd found out so much about Adam in the time he'd spent with him, things that surprised him, things that didn't-- he'd been born in Indianapolis, but had moved to L.A. when he was just a baby. He'd been singing since he could talk, he was an Aquarius, and had a thing for French Silk ice cream... and he didn't mind being a few minutes late to work when Kris was spread out under him, open and wanting for him, their bodies and souls craving that intimate connection. 

One night, tangled up in their bed, Kris had asked Adam about his parents. His eyes had been a little sad as he explained that they were divorced, and he hadn't wanted to burden them with his issues-- so he'd distanced himself. Kris hated seeing any type of pain in Adam's eyes, so he'd kissed it away, holding his beautiful boy close to him.

Kris sighed into Adam's shirt, nuzzling at his neck as he remembered. "God, I love you," he murmured, then froze as he realized he'd said that out loud. Because, although Kris felt that with every fiber of his being, it had still only been a week. Those words were a promise, a binding force, and Kris sat stiff, his face hidden against Adam's neck as he mentally kicked himself for being so forward so soon.

Adam was silent for a short second, then his fingers were under Kris' chin, tilting his face up to look at him with eyes that were softly gentle. "I love you, too."

Kris smiled against the skin of his neck as Adam wrapped him into his arms, before stretching down to press their lips together into a slow, probing kiss, his thumb skimming across Kris' cheekbone as he cupped the side of his face.  
A moment later, Kris' ringtone reached their ears, and Adam grabbed the cell from the coffee table without parting their mouths. He glanced down at the caller ID and sighed, unwillingly pulling away from Kris' sweet, cherry-red lips to flip it open and answer with "Whaaat, Matt?"

Adam made a face, and said in his best diva bitch voice, "No, you didn't interrupt me _getting some." _He listened for a moment, then laughed, then listened again.

"Lil's sick? Oh... yeah, okay. You owe me." He chuckled and flipped the phone shut again, dropping it onto the table before turning back to Kris.

"Lil can't come in to the bar today, got the flu," Adam explained, thumb sweeping over Kris' bottom lip. "Matt asked if I could cover for her for a few hours until Megan's shift."

Kris pouted, and Adam descended to nibble at his bottom lip, saying "Pouting is not fair. I'll be back in an hour or two. Then we can pick that up where we left off." Kris hummed his agreement, stealing another quick kiss before Adam stood, making towards the door.

"Bye, doll. I love you," Adam called, the door clicking open, and Kris called out "Love you, too!" before the door thunked shut behind him. Kris smiled and picked up his guitar again, marveling at how those three short words could make him feel so utterly blissed out.

He strummed out a few chord ideas, and he looked around in surprise when, five minutes later, the doorbell rang. It wouldn't be anyone other than Adam, but why didn't he just come in? 

Kris set aside his guitar and trotted over to the door, starting to pull it open. "Hey, baby, did ya forget someth--?" Kris started, then froze stiff as he caught site of the man on the other side of the door. It was an all-too familiar figure standing there, appraising Kris with icy hard eyes.

"...Derrik, wha--?" Kris said, shocked, then was cut off by the other man pushing by him into the house, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Kris," Derrik said, voice dangerous as he turned to face him. "I waited a whole goddamn week for you to call me again. Do you really think you can just walk out like that? It doesn't work like that with me, Kristopher."

Kris swallowed, acutely aware of how much larger Derrik was compared to him. "I meant it," Kris said, lips a hard line. "I'm done with you. I don't want to ever be with you again."

A moment later, before Kris could even react, Derrik had a handful of his shirt and was pushing him back into the door, Kris' breath whooshing out as his eyes widened in surprise and fright.

"You think you can just prance away to be with your little boytoy? Do you? You're fucking wrong. You're mine, slut, and it was pretty fucking stupid of you to forget that," Derrik growled, close to his face, and Kris writhed against the wall, trying to push him away. "Get away from me! Don't fucking touch me--"

Derrik easily grabbed Kris' shoulders and pinned him into the wall again, holding him there as he whispered into his neck, "Now, Kristopher, I wouldn't be disobedient if I were you. I know who your little slut is, he's performed at my clubs before... and I'd bet you'd just hate yourself if something were to _happen _to him..."

There was no mistaking the threat in Derrik's voice, and Kris' eyes widened as he pleaded, voice trembling along with his body, "No, you can't, you can't hurt Adam--"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Derrik hissed into his ear, mouth curled into a malevolent smile. "But, in the end, if I _do _or not is up to you, Kristopher."

Kris squeezed his eyes shut, mind going to Adam's smiling face. He couldn't let anything hurt him. Ever.

Kris melted submissively back against the wall, hands slack at his sides, and whispered "Fine, Derrik." Derrik smiled cruelly, replying "Good boy."

~

Derrik finished with Kris an endless hour later, the tears sliding down Kris' face intensifying as he laid there, bite marks and bruises fanning across his body, his wrists bound to the headboard with Derrik's belt, the buckle of which had left the bruises and welts along his thighs. Derrik kneeled on the bed, chest heaving, and it was then that Kris heard the front door open.

Kris saw from around Derrik's body as a figure entered the living room, freezing in shock as he saw the scene in the bedroom.

Kris' gaze was wide with horror as he focused on Adam, his lover's baby blue eyes stricken as he stared in at their naked bodies.

"No, Adam!" Kris cried, voice broken and desperate, but Adam had already disappeared through the front door with a slam, and Derrik fucking _laughed._ 

"Get _away _from me!" Kris screamed when Derrik finally untied the belt from around his wrists, smirking, and pushed him, sending him staggering off the bed. He righted himself and quickly dressed, before turning to Kris, a malicious smile on his face as he said "I guess your little boyfriend isn't happy with learning the truth-- that you're nothing more than a high-priced whore. But you even fail at _that._" He made towards the bedroom door, a cruel laugh accompanying his words. "I'm done with you, Kris. I'm done with this entire fucking city."

The door slammed shut again as Derrik left, and Kris sat on the messy, cum-spattered bed, feeling dirty and sick as he sobbed, realizing Derrik had had it all planned out. And now Adam was gone. His gorgeous boy was gone, and Kris didn't expect him to ever return to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Twenty minutes later found Kris nearly running from his front door, trying not to think of anything at all as he made towards his car-- trying to push away the thoughts of how dirty and violated he felt, trying not to remember Derrik taking Adam's place inside him or the look in his lover's eyes.

He attempted to shove the key into the ignition with trembling fingers, cussing and crying frustrated tears as his unsteady hands made it difficult. He pulled away from the curb once he finally succeeded, and headed towards the one place he could think of to go, the one place he might find him-- Matt's. He pulled up to the bar five minutes later, rushing around the back to the alley entrance that led to Matt's apartment, behind the bar. He tried the door, and, foregoing knocking, stumbled inside when he found it unlocked.

Matt looked up in surprise at the sudden intrusion as Kris all but fell through the door, and his expression was morphed into shocked concern as he saw Kris, shaking and sobbing by his front door.

"Kris, what the hell happened?" Matt said, hurrying up from the couch and guiding Kris over to it, eyes wide.

"Derrik, A-Adam, where's--?" Kris said through his sobs, clutching his arms around himself as he trembled. "Adam, I need A-Adam."

"Whoa, Kris, wait a minute, what happened?" Matt asked, putting his hand on Kris' arm as if to steady him.

Kris' breaths were hitching and short as the words tripped out, and Kris didn't think twice about his past spilling out to Matt, as caught up in his desperation as he was. "D-Derrik, he... I, I was an escort before I met Adam, a-and I told Derrik it was over, b-but today he showed up and, and he... he s-said he'd h-hurt Adam if I didn't, wouldn't, and, and Adam came home and saw and t-thought..."

A new wave of tears overcame Kris as Matt's eyes widened in shock and anger, and Kris flinched away, thinking Matt was reacting to his confession of his past. Matt ignored the recoil and wrapped Kris protectively into his arms, saying "Oh my god, he hurt you?"

Kris nodded into his hands as he covered his face, eyes squeezed shut. "I n-need Adam."

Matt was silent for a long moment, before quietly replying, regret in his voice. "You... You missed him by ten minutes. He came in to... to hand in his resignation." 

~

Kris sat hunched at Matt's kitchen table, eyes prickling and swollen. He simply could not cry anymore, and he stared, shell-shocked, at the grain patterns of the wood under his fingers.

Adam. Adam had quit his job at the bar. Kris squeezed his eyes shut as his mind echoed that he may never be able to explain to his beautiful boy-- each repetition of that truth feeling like a stab to his gut.

Kris didn't even look up when Matt returned to the table, setting a cup of some kind of sweet-smelling tea in front of him. 

"Kris," Matt started a moment after he sat down, "...You have to call someone, a fucking lawyer or something. He _raped _you, he... he can't get away with that."

Kris shook his head, mumbling  "I... I can't. The... the prostitution would have to be dragged into it, and, and... That would be w-worse. Plus, Derrik, I think... I think he's leaving. The city. I can't.... do anything."

Matt didn't have a response to that, and just stroked a hand through Kris' hair when he dropped his head into his hands. He had never felt so completely, utterly helpless.

"It'll be okay," Matt said, quietly, "You'll be okay."-- and Kris couldn't bring himself to believe him.

~

"Kris, baby. I love you."__

Kris was wrapped in long, lean-muscled arms, cradled up against a familiar body. His stomach flipped with joy as he awoke, and he opened his eyes to find his baby boy gazing down at him, a heartbreakingly beautiful smile on his face. "I'm here, honey."

Kris' entire body was flooded through with elation, and he cradled his lover's face in his hands, melting into him.

The moment his lover's lips met his, Kris' eyes flew open on a gasp, his chest heaving and his limbs flung across his bed.

Kris lay there for a long, shocked second, before the reality of being alone in his room hit him. He curled onto his side as tears welled up in his eyes, building to deep, wracking sobs that shook his body. Adam wasn't here. He hadn't been since that night. 

Matt had insisted Kris stay at his house after he had come to him, although Kris was no company. He'd barely spoken during the week he had spent there, lost in his own reclusive universe. Only yesterday Kris had insisted he go home.

Walking into his house had been like a fist to the gut-- every single innocent item brought up some image of Adam. The fridge, in which Adam had foraged for ice cream late one night, Kris sleepily padding out to find Adam with a guilty smile on his face and a spoon in his mouth-- the couch and the bed, the places they had laid together, talking about random things or making love to each other late into the night.

They brought back the memories that would have, if not for Derrik, brought him feelings of love and closeness. Now, it felt like they were eating away at Kris' insides, leaving him raw. Kris trembled, clutching his arms around himself, the ache to be in Adam's arms, protected and loved, almost a physical thing. And now even his subconscious was expressing his yearning.

It was a long time before Kris could sleep again.

~

Kris lay sprawled across his sofa, eyes fixed on the TV, not taking in any of the images on the screen. Rain streaked across the windows of his apartment-- L.A. was in the midst of one of it's rare rain storms, and Kris couldn't help but to think, fleetingly, that his baby boy was out there, somewhere, in that-- but he shoved that aside. He was settling into his place where he thought of nothing, nothing at all, the place in which he shut out the world, and the fact that every fucking second away from Adam made him want to curl up into a ball and never resurface.

He sometimes vaguely wondered when Adam had taken such complete control of him, but mostly his absence was just an ache, deep in Kris' chest-- a basic, consuming hunger left unfilled. 

Kris had returned to work a few days after coming back to his house, unwilling to let Matt support him without any type of work on his side of the deal. But where he used to be friendly and lighthearted, now he drew into himself, flinching away from contact with people-- earning himself more than a few raised eyebrows and insulted looks. He knew it was unhealthy, how he was, but. The _ache._

Kris was pulled from his daze by the ringing of his cellphone, and he grabbed it off the coffee table, reading 'Matt' on the caller ID. He sighed and answered it after a moment, greeting him with an empty hello.

"Kris, god, I... Adam. He told me, um, forcibly, not to tell you, but. ...Adam's here. And he's sick, really sick."

Kris' eyes widened, reality crashing down on him as his brain slowly absorbed those words. _Adam._

"Oh my god, Matt. Thank you, I, I'll be there in five."

Kris hung up without waiting for a response, sprinting out of the front door and into the rain.

~

Matt nearly jumped out of his skin when Kris frantically crashed through his door, but Kris' only concern was for the man shaking underneath a pile of blankets on the couch.

Adam looked up, startled, and his expression went from surprise to shock to anger,  all in a millisecond. He looked to Matt, voice weak and rasping, laced through with fury. "Matt."

"I'm sorry, Adam," Matt said defiantly, hovering by his head. "But he's been freaking out."

"Adam," Kris said, voice a collage of emotions, and he felt sick when Adam turned his face away-- while Kris wanted nothing more than to be able to collapse into his arms. Adam shuddered under the blankets and coughed violently, deep in his chest, then spit something up into the bucket beside the couch.

Kris could tell, even from across the room, that his breathing was fast and shallow, and Matt walked over to him, eyebrows knit together. "He has a temperature of 102. He says he doesn't want to go to the hospital."

"I can hear you, you know," Adam said, coughing again. "I, they couldn't do anything at the shelter, I just needed somewhere to go--" Adam was cut off as a tremor swept through his body, and he fell back against the pillow again, teeth chattering. 

Kris rushed over, smoothing a hand over Adam's forehead, and he just about broke down when Adam flinched away from him-- a noise of protest falling from his lips, along with a shaky "Don't t-touch me."

Kris' eyes filled with tears, and he was glad when Matt intervened. "Adam, you need to go to a fucking hospital. Now. C'mon."

Adam weakly protested when Matt hauled him up from the couch, but the chills coursing through his body made him lean his weight onto the other man, more coughs ripping from his throat.

"Let's go," Matt said, looking back at Kris as he started towards the door.

~

Kris sat by Matt in the hospital waiting room, awaiting news from the doctor that had taken Adam from them to be examined. Kris fidgeted nervously, biting his lip as his mind replayed Adam coughing like that, deep and wracking, and how he'd flinched away from his touch.

What felt like an eternity later, the tall, gray-haired doctor appeared through the double doors, chart in hand as he made towards them. He took a seat and greeted them before lowering his eyes to the clipboard and telling them "It looks like bacterial pneumonia, quite a serious case, too. It looks like it's been building for a while, his immune system was weakened from a past sickness. I've prescribed him antibiotics, and he should remain here for the night, as a precaution. He should fully recover, although it may be a while. And, he's requested no visitors for the night."

Kris breathed an audible sigh of relief, dropping his head into his hands as the doctor stood and left. He was going to be okay.

His relief quickly reverted back to that damn ache as he took in the doctors last words. He'd requested that he have no visitors. Kris' eyes misted over again at this proof of how much Adam wished to completely avoid him. He hurt for Adam, knowing that he thought Kris had been unfaithful, right after he told him that he loved him, no less. 

But Kris would talk to him. He needed to explain, he needed his lover to believe that what he had seen hadn't been in Kris' hands-- and that he loved him, loved him with his every breath.

~

Kris and Matt both went to pick up Adam the next day, entering his room to find him seated on the edge of the bed, face still pale, but already looking better. The doctor that had updated them yesterday was standing behind him, another clipboard in hand.

"Okay, Mr. Lambert, now that your friends are here..." the doctor said, "You'll need to take this prescription and get it filled. Take one of the antibiotic pills a day, in the morning. Once this round of pills is gone, you should be recuperated, but if your symptoms start to return or don't improve, come back and see me. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids, and you probably should stay in the house for a few days, okay?"

Adam nodded, saying "Can do," before coughing into the crook of his elbow, grating and deep, but less violently then before.

"Now," the doctor continued, "Do you have insurance?"

"Um--" Adam started, but Matt cut him off with "I'll be the one handling the bill."

"No you won't," Adam protested, but Matt shushed him and turned to the doctor, who said "Okay, I'll need you to fill out some forms over here."

Matt and the doctor walked over to the other side of the room together, and Kris nervously stood a few feet away from the bed, eyes on the ground. A few minutes later Matt was finished, and the doctor bid them good day as they left the room and began down the bland hallways towards the exit.

~

They filled the prescription on their way back to Matt's place, and the silence was uncomfortably tense as they filed into his living room after they arrived. Adam slumped down onto the sofa with a sigh, and Kris quietly sat in the armchair diagonal to him, hands clasped between his knees.

Kris looked down at his Converse for a long minute, the house silent save for the sounds of their breathing, and the occasional cough from Adam. Kris' stomach churned as he gathered up his courage, before quietly murmuring "Adam" as he studied the stitching on his shoes.

Kris heard as Matt almost-inconspicuously left the room, and Kris' eyes flicked up to find Adam's trained on him, tired and resigned.

"Thanks for the concern, Kris, but I don't have anything to say to you," Adam said, and Kris could hear him fighting to keep his voice level as he spoke.

"Adam, just... just hear me out, okay? Let, let me..." Kris stammered, and Adam cut him off with "I don't think explanations are really _needed, _Kris, I saw a whole fucking lot."

"It wasn't _like _that! It wasn't how, how it looked!" Kris pleaded, feeling sick as he took in the sight of his lover, detached and cold across from him, so drastically different from before.

"Well _excuse me," _Adam said, his voice finally losing it's icy exterior as it rose venomously, displaying his pain in every syllable for Kris to see. "It sure _looked _like the man who told me he _loved _me was in bed with another guy, but if it wasn't what it _looked like_, please fucking enlighten me, Kris!"

The tears prickling at Kris' eyes spilled over as he said "A-Adam, it wasn't, that... that was Derrik, he, he came and, he said he'd hurt you if I didn't, didn't do what he wanted! And I, I couldn't..."

Adam's hard expression fell a bit, and for a moment he looked like he just wanted to walk over and hold Kris-- but a second later his eyes hardened again, and he said "Well, isn't that just one hell of a convenient excuse, Kris?"

"A-Adam," Kris said, turning into himself as his mind told him, over and over again,_ You're going to lose him._ 

"I'm telling the truth," Kris said, tears sliding down his cheeks as he continued. "Please, Adam, I-I love you so much. Baby, I..."

"He's telling the truth, Adam," Matt's voice cut in, and Kris looked up in surprise to find Matt leaning against the wall by the back hallway, laptop in hand. " Oh, and I wasn't eavesdropping, by the way. But anyway, he came to me ten minutes after you left, sobbing everywhere, and told me the exact same thing he just told you. The boy loves you, Adam, he really does."

Kris sat silent, not even able to give Matt a grateful glance, because Adam looked over to him, eyes vulnerable and still unsure. _You're going to lose him. You're going to lose him.  
_  
"And,"  Matt continued, "I just found an article on AOL. Derrik, he got arrested and sentenced to jail time in San Fran for domestic violence against his boyfriend up there."

"...Oh my god," Kris breathed as his mind absorbed that information, because he was _gone, _Derrik would never have the chance to do something like that to anybody ever again-- but Kris' thoughts were cut off as a strangled noise came from somewhere, and before he could even look up, Adam was crashing into his arms.

Kris sat stiff in wide-eyed shock for a short moment, before he let out a strangled hiccup of his own, melting into his lover as he cradled Kris to his chest, words tumbling from his lips in a rush as he rocked him in his arms.

"Ohmygod baby, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have run away like that. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, oh baby I'm so sorry, he hurt you and I, I, my god baby, I love you so much."

Kris clutched at the back of the other man's shirt, burying his face into his chest and inhaling the familiar scent of him. "I know, baby, I'm sorry too, I-I couldn't--"

"Don't you _dare _apologize," Adam said, tipping Kris' chin up to meet his eyes, the gorgeous blue eyes that were burning in anger at Derrik and passion for Kris. "You were protecting me, baby, and he hurt you, oh my god. I love you, doll, I'm so sorry."

"Adam," Kris murmured, twining his fingers into the thick, soft hair at the back of the other man's head and pulling him down to meet his lips in a deep, tender kiss. "I love you so much."

"Okay, guys, Jesus, the third wheel is leaving," Matt announced, vacating the room, and Kris smiled against his lover's lips as Adam's hand cupped his jaw, pressing their lips softly together again and again.

"I missed you, I missed you so bad, baby," Adam mumbled, nuzzling in for another kiss, hands warm on his back. "My beautiful boy, Kris, baby."

"Yours, Adam," Kris breathed, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "Only yours."


End file.
